>Orthodontia

>I went to the orthodontist today for the first time since I was, like, 14. My teeth are awful and embarrassing, but I was forewarned by Dr. Boley in Dallas that I would need braces again in my 20s. (Yeah, so I’m a little late.) I have until Friday to decide, but I’m 90% sure I’ll go with iBraces. Those are a type of lingual braces–they go on the backside of your teeth. The dentist my mom worked for in Dallas had braces of this nature 20 years ago before it was so popular or comfortable. He told us that while it was great that you couldn’t readily see them, he did completely lacerate his tongue because at the time they just put normal old braces on there, they just put them on the other side. These days the process is completely state-of-the-art (which I’m sure is just a fancy-schmancy word for “more expensive”) and after a week of getting acclimated, patients overall rave about how invisible they are unless you reveal to people that you have ‘em. Hannah Montana had them, apparently, as do other people as vain as I.

I am not a candidate for Invisalign, which my sister wore for a while with great results. (She also wore conventional braces for 4 years in high school, so she has a REALLY great smile to show for it.) I considered clear braces for about a minute until I remembered how much I love red wine. And of course it’s hard enough to get respect as a woman (a fairly young one still) in a male-dominated industry, so regular braces would not be ideal either.

I think this is a good option for me and my ortho agrees. What has really impressed me in my research is how people rave that you can see the results way before they actually come off your teeth. The very sweet assistant today pointed out that while you don’t have the same drama associated with getting your braces off (yeah, thanks, I did that already anyway), you have less “hey, something’s different about you!” because most people probably won’t know they were there anyway.

The main complaint I’ve heard–other than the weeklong adjustment between your tongue and the appliance and the accompanying lisp–is what food you have to avoid. I read the list of stuff to stay away from: corn on the cob and many candy-related products, for example, and was relieved. I had to stop eating corn on the cob years ago because of how severely crowded my teeth are; it got stuck in them. I always cut it off the cob with a knife and fork. I don’t eat candy much. I like cashews and other nuts, but I don’t eat them that much so avoiding them won’t be a hardship.

I wouldn’t say I’m excited about it, but I’m hopeful for how I’ll look in the future. Life is too short to feel this way about your own appearance.

That was one of many lessons Mom taught me in her last few years.